New Convert Retention Percentage

[ctkrcia]

Hello! I am the RCIA director at my parish. The first class after Easter, I like to hit the class with a cold, hard statistic that I once heard. For new converts, 50% will not be attending Mass regularly one year after Holy Saturday.

Is there any credible source for statistics like this? In looking around my parish, it seems that number is just about right. This is in spite of students attending classes every week for a year, making both 1/2 day retreats, Rite of Enrollment, Rite of Election, three scrutinies, and a 2-3 marathon Mass to welcome them into the church! Then, it seems they kind of just vaporize.

Does anyone know of a source of statistics for churches in the USA? Others with RCIA experience (team member or student), what is your experience in your church?

The first class is tomorrow night and I would like to have something to back up my statement other than, “I heard once a few years ago.”

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[JM3]

catholicmoraltruth.com/churchstatistics.htm

1. Official statistics are found in the Kenedy Directory. This is the official directory used by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. 2,300 pages. Cost $325.00. 1-800-473-7020. The last directory was issued in 2004. Periodically The Catholic News Service will report the latest up-to-date trends. Mostly showing discouraging down trends.
   Other sources of researched statistics on the decline of our church in this country are:
2. “Index of Leading Catholic Indicators” by Kenneth C. Jones - Paperback - Jan 2003 - $22.00

 

[nickybr38]

Hello! I am the RCIA director at my parish. The first class after Easter, I like to hit the class with a cold, hard statistic that I once heard. For new converts, 50% will not be attending Mass regularly one year after Holy Saturday.

Is there any credible source for statistics like this? In looking around my parish, it seems that number is just about right. This is in spite of students attending classes every week for a year, making both 1/2 day retreats, Rite of Enrollment, Rite of Election, three scrutinies, and a 2-3 marathon Mass to welcome them into the church! Then, it seems they kind of just vaporize.

Does anyone know of a source of statistics for churches in the USA? Others with RCIA experience (team member or student), what is your experience in your church?

The first class is tomorrow night and I would like to have something to back up my statement other than, “I heard once a few years ago.”

Thanks,
Jeff

I do not know any numbers and I am not from the US but I can tell you that at our parish new converts do not stick around (probably because they aren’t properly catechized to begin with). The first thing one of the parishioners told me when he discovered I was converting was: “I don’t see the point of converting if you’re not going to attend Mass-” he went on quite a rant. To me it sounded like he was trying to convince me NOT to join unless I was DEAD SERIOUS, because he was frustrated by the amount of new converts he’d seen come in and then disappear. Afterwards I think he realized how discouraging he’d been because he’s been super welcoming and nice ever since, even going so far as to cross half the Church to greet me during the sign of Peace.

Anyway, I would say convert ratios aren’t good where I live. But I do know I won’t be one of the lost ones. I guess the deciding factor will be WHY people convert. The why will probably determine the ‘how long’.

 

[kildare]

Maybe the one who drop out are the ones who convert for convenience, such as for marriage.
Hopefully its down to that because 50% after 1 year seems high in the extreme!

 

[Barbkw]

My suggestion. Take the newbies and get them into adult faith formation classes. Get them involved in the Church. Liturgical ministry, greeters, Eucharistic ministers. Heaven’s forbid, eventually ask them to be RCIA sponsors

Use the strategies that businesses and the military use to get people into the flow.

EWTN has wonderful 4, 8, 10, 13 part series on adult faith formation. All that someone needs do, is load in the CD, press “Play” and brew up a pot of coffee in the social hall. People could come in an hour before Mass and watch the programming.

Many people from protestant denominations with knowledge of Sacred Scripture would make excellent instructors.

Host seminars on the Compendium.

I think RCIA is in many ways like Boot Camp. It has a lasting and profound effect on people and they’re able to share a group cohesiveness that they may never have experienced before. I’d suggest collecting group photos of the RCIA classes from different years so that people can start recognizing faces and names. To become closer to people who have come into the Church from similar backgrounds.

 

[InternetWoman]

We used to have a dismal retention rate until we changed our RCIA format. We now have 45 minutes of teaching followed by 30 minutes of discussion. We use this time to thrash out issues, concerns, and questions. We have over a 50% attrition rate during RCIA but close to 100% retention after (based on seeing them at Mass, and getting them as sponsors).

 

[mcrow]

I don’t know the actual numbers but we have many many Catholics in our parish that went through RCIA. I’m talking people who did it between last year and 15 years ago.

Just a pure guess but our church averages 5-6 people per RCIA “class”. Just guessing on how many people in our parish are still invovled that went through RCIA I would say, over the last 15 years, I would say that our retention rate is probably closer to 75-80%.

 

[puzzleannie]

Hello! I am the RCIA director at my parish. The first class after Easter, I like to hit the class with a cold, hard statistic that I once heard. For new converts, 50% will not be attending Mass regularly one year after Holy Saturday.

Is there any credible source for statistics like this? In looking around my parish, it seems that number is just about right. This is in spite of students attending classes every week for a year, making both 1/2 day retreats, Rite of Enrollment, Rite of Election, three scrutinies, and a 2-3 marathon Mass to welcome them into the church! Then, it seems they kind of just vaporize.

Does anyone know of a source of statistics for churches in the USA? Others with RCIA experience (team member or student), what is your experience in your church?

The first class is tomorrow night and I would like to have something to back up my statement other than, “I heard once a few years ago.”

Thanks,
Jeff

you might try the forum (the other one, the North American Forum on the Catechumenate) they have been keeping records and working with longer experience, albeit their methods of catechesis are not the most orthodox.

My own statistics are just drawn from my own experience.
neophytes who do not return for mystagogy are almost 90% certain to be not practicing after 2 years, most stop the 1st year
for children who are not brought to continue religious education after initiation, that is more like 100% because that denotes little or no family support or commitment to the faith.

I think the statistics overall have a lot to do with the parish where the catechumens were received and how well they were welcomed into participation in parish life.

2 factors have increased our successful “retention rate”
1 is that through forces beyond my control or influence our parish has in the last 10 years become much more active with social, justice, community, outreach ministries and apostolates and I have no trouble finding sponsors to invite candidates into some parish life.

2 is that I invite all the recently baptized adults to sponsor other catechumens are candidates the next year. Those who do have an almost 100% record of being active parishioners or active in another parish after 5 years.

the factor that has most increased success rate with children is active involvement of the parents throughout the process, during which they receive pastoral care for their own situations, usually marriage-annulment-convalidation and also their own sacramental initiation.

 

[PbloPicasso]

 

[PbloPicasso]

you might try the forum (the other one, the North American Forum on the Catechumenate) they have been keeping records and working with longer experience, albeit their methods of catechesis are not the most orthodox.

My own statistics are just drawn from my own experience.
neophytes who do not return for mystagogy are almost 90% certain to be not practicing after 2 years, most stop the 1st year
for children who are not brought to continue religious education after initiation, that is more like 100% because that denotes little or no family support or commitment to the faith.

I think the statistics overall have a lot to do with the parish where the catechumens were received and how well they were welcomed into participation in parish life.

2 factors have increased our successful “retention rate”
1 is that through forces beyond my control or influence our parish has in the last 10 years become much more active with social, justice, community, outreach ministries and apostolates and I have no trouble finding sponsors to invite candidates into some parish life.

2 is that I invite all the recently baptized adults to sponsor other catechumens are candidates the next year. Those who do have an almost 100% record of being active parishioners or active in another parish after 5 years.

the factor that has most increased success rate with children is active involvement of the parents throughout the process, during which they receive pastoral care for their own situations, usually marriage-annulment-convalidation and also their own sacramental initiation.

PA,
What do you mean by this? How can a “method” of catechesis not be orthodox?

 

[puzzleannie]

Hello! I am the RCIA director at my parish. The first class after Easter, I like to hit the class with a cold, hard statistic that I once heard. For new converts, 50% will not be attending Mass regularly one year after Holy Saturday.

IsThanks,
Jeff

there are statistics for the whole church and every country, parishes and dioceses fill out surveyes every year in October (just turned mine in).

that being said no except through parish registration there is no way to know who is active and who is not after RCIA.

I will say in over 20 years working with RCIA in one way or another, attending conferences and trainings almost yearly, just about everyone I know would agree with the 50% estimate.

For those who refuse to participate in Mystagogy you can ramp that up to 95%
for children received through RCIA whose parents do not attend Mass, also 95%